Energy advice service will help hard-pressed families this winter.

Renfrewshire Council and Linstone Housing Association (on behalf of FLAIR) will launch a dedicated energy advocacy service this winter to target support to hard-pressed local people.

As part of the service, residents will be able to make use of an expert adviser who can help them on a range of issues from resolving problems with energy companies to securing funding for new energy measures in their home.

The move means the previous Renfrewshire energy advocacy role that was run by the council and funded by the Scottish Government until March 2013, can be re-launched in time for winter.

It helped many local people last year including elderly home owner, Elizabeth Kerton who had no hot water and poor insulation until an adviser stepped in.

Mrs Kerton, 64, from Johnstone explained: “The service was able to help me out during winter last year when my boiler wasn’t working properly. I was getting heat – but I’d had no hot water for over a year and had to constantly rely on my shower. The adviser was able to sort that all out for me and I got a new boiler, plus loft insulation. I’m absolutely delighted because the house is definitely holding the heat much better now. I’d recommend the advocacy service to others.”

Council Leader, Mark Macmillan met Mrs Kerton recently to hear how the service helped her. He said: “I’m pleased that with our partners at Linstone, we are able to re-launch this worthwhile service to offer a wide range of support on energy issues. I was delighted to hear first hand from Mrs Kerton who benefitted previously from energy advocacy. She had a faulty boiler and no hot water and they took on her case, resulting in a brand new boiler and loft insulation. I’m delighted for Mrs Kerton and look forward to other people who need help, getting dedicated support.”

Gary Dalziel, Linstone’s Director of Finance and Corporate Services, said: “We recognise that one of the most expensive aspects of having a home are the energy costs and we are confident that the introduction of this service of will be a tremendous benefit to our residents to ensure they are receiving expert, tailored and independent energy advice on what can be an extremely complex system. We are delighted to have been able to secure funding to allow Renfrewshire Council’s energy advice team to deliver this service on our behalf and across Renfrewshire.”

Councillor Macmillan added: “With national Energy Saving Week from 21 until 25 October, we’re reminded of the importance of doing all we can to be energy efficient to not only help cut down our bills, but to also reduce our impact on the environment.

We’ve set up a dedicated energy section at our website to offer tips and useful advice, and I’d urge everyone to visit the pages.”

The new service will be up and running by the end of October. To get in touch with the advocacy team, call 0141 618 7515 or email emu@renfrewshire.gov.uk

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